Wine Enthusiast magazine’s final issue of the year is out, and features the magazine’s Top 100 wines of 2009. Pictured on the cover are the #1 wine – a 2006 Cambria Julia’s Vineyard Pinot Noir; the #5 wine – Champagne Henriot NV Souverain Brut; and the #8 wine – Poet’s Leap 2007 Riesling. In the introduction to the full list, the magazine’s tasting director Joe Czerwinski writes:

“Each year, the editors of Wine Enthusiast compile the list of their favorite wines of the year. While most featured have received high scores from our critics, many go far beyond the numbers assigned to them, either for their extraordinary quality-to-price ratio, their immediate drinkability, or their uniqueness. All are diverse and offer a window into the terroir from which they were made.”

I believe that this year’s list is the all-time best showing for Washington state on any national publication’s best-of list. Here are the wines that were included, and their scores and rank:

Not too surprisingly, most of these wines also appear on my own Top 100, as all the Washington wine reviews in Wine Enthusiast are my own. However, deadlines and criteria differ, and to see 11 Washington wines (and another three from Oregon) on the Wine Enthusiast Top 100 is an unmissable vote of confidence in the region from all the magazine’s editors, not just me. In recent issues the magazine has also published Top 100 Best Buys Under $15 and Top 100 Cellar Selections lists, which included many other Washington wines.

Whether or not you agree with the lists, the scores, or the methodology, I think we can all agree that a very bright light is shining on Washington’s wineries right now, at a time when many wineries (and indeed entire regions – look at the problems in Australia and Bordeaux, to name just two) are struggling.

Sincere congratulations to all the wineries and vineyards represented above.

Parading lower cost wines down the perverbial runway is wine corporate's attempt at "siding with the small guy". Give me a break. I'm always for inexpensive, quality wines. What's with the WE and WS playing these cards in 2009? Why wern't they ALWAYS out on the hunt for "people's wine" and not wine for the rich? It's quite insulting if you ask me.